Author Topic: Anyone happen to own an 70's Mercedes? (Read 419 times)

Raubvogel · « **on:** October 09, 2002, 10:51:34 AM »

Looking at buying a 78 Mercedes 280 as a 2nd car.....runs solid, transmission seems sound, no rust. There's a troubling light on the dash though. It comes on everytime you push the brake pedal. Looks like a picture of a brake drum with shoes. It's not the brake light though, that is clearly labeled "Brake"

Just want to make sure it's not something serious before I buy it.

wulfie · « **Reply #1 on:** October 09, 2002, 10:57:44 AM »

I've got a '72 German (i.e. 'gray market') 350SL waiting in a garage until I get home.

One thing to know - I had to have all of the fuel lines redone thanks to Al Gore and his MBTE. That stuff literally ate thru 'older style' fuel lines and such.

If you are near the S.F. Bay Area (CA.) my shop has a couple of 'Wise Old Masters' who have worked on older Mercedes cars their whole lives (i.e. they were 'young' when our cars were 'new').

If memory serves your warning light = brake pad replacement time. Definitely talk to a Benz mechanic who has experience with older cars however.

I'll tell you one thing - miles mean nothing on those cars. That 350SL (granted, German, i.e. 'non' smogged) is still a rocket. It will shock alot of newer 'sports' cars between 70 and 120+ MPH in terms of acceleration, and it gets more stable and responsive the faster it goes.

Mike/wulfie

midnight Target · « **Reply #2 on:** October 09, 2002, 11:01:26 AM »

Used to own a '70 220D. Was a pig around town (poor excelleration), but it was sweet on the highway, and handled and rode like a dream. It had almost 400k on it when I got rid of it.

Anything that you need to fix will be costly, but you will need to fix very little if it is anything like mine.

Raubvogel · « **Reply #3 on:** October 09, 2002, 11:03:42 AM »

Yeah, I figured it was something like a brake pad light or something. You're right about the mileage thing. It has 190k on it, but the engine runs and sounds stronger than most American cars I've had with 90k on them.

funkedup · « **Reply #4 on:** October 09, 2002, 01:36:23 PM »

A friend of mine has a 6.9.
It doesn't have too many problems for a car of that age, but it costs him an arm and a leg every time something goes wrong.

wulfie · « **Reply #5 on:** October 09, 2002, 06:15:55 PM »

FunkedUp we will hopefully be taking the Teutonic Sled to a RAIDERS GAME BABY.

Mike/wulfie

eskimo2 · « **Reply #6 on:** October 09, 2002, 07:19:15 PM »

I had a 1965 190 Diesil

Slowest car I ever owned, but I think it had over 4,000,000 miles on it.

eskimo

Staga · « **Reply #7 on:** October 10, 2002, 04:34:22 AM »

IIRC '65 model had that funny thermometer type speedo; Friend's dad had one and we did borrow it sometimes.

Slowest car (190 diesel) I've ever drove but it was very comfortable and had lots of space.
IIRC fastest speed I could achieve with it was something like 115kmh/72mph and it took about 30mins to get it to that speed

Another nice Mercedes we used to drove was '73 W114 bodied 280, most of that kind of cars here had Diesel but this one had 2,8liter straight six with 4-barrel carburetor.
On the road there were many guys who thought the car would be a diesel and that car really surprised some of them when we passed them 200kmh or raced from the traffic lights

Only bad thing was that it took more fuel/km than '65 New Yorker with 413cid friend also had...

UserName · « **Reply #8 on:** October 10, 2002, 09:56:10 AM »

I currently have a 1982 300 SD Turbo Diesel, with over 300K on the odo. Sure it's not a convertible, and sure it's not gas, but it's a hell of a good car. Only problem I've had with it in the past 10 years was the A/C compressor and condensor which needed replacing.

And there's absolutely no rust on it at all. If you take good care of the chassis it'll last forever. And I don't know about the gas engines, but the diesels are bullet proof.

I'd say go for it. Not only are they solid cars, but they're easier to work on than the modern crap with all the wires and computers and shyte, where there's hardly enough room in the engine compartment to stick a screwdriver in.

And yup, the (O) light means brake pads need replacing, and the BRAKE light means the parking brake is set.

Another thing, see if you can find newer MB aluminium rims (the 15 inchers) to replace the stock 14 inch rims, it'll make a big difference in appearance. But that's a personal preference.

Take some pictures of your new car

Raubvogel · « **Reply #9 on:** October 11, 2002, 04:19:20 PM »

Well....I test drove that 280 again just to be sure. My wife went to put her seatbelt on and the whole metal piece that anchors the belt to the floor came off in a rusty hunk. Needless to say I didn't get the car.

Drove 500yds down the street and picked up a 1987 Saab 900 Turbo with 76,000 miles on it for $1500. It leaks a bit of oil, but who cares about the environement anyway.